Montreal Smoked Meat; Pizza

Canugghead · February 2017

Montreal Smoke Meat (sort of like pastrami?)

Followed @biggreenmatt 's recipe again, with some modifications ...
http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1128140/ultimate-montreal-smoked-meat-recipe/p1

Don't have a bag large enough for the whole packer, compromised with multiple overlapping layers of plastic wrap.

Divided cure and spices into 2 groups, laid out wrap on table, sprinkled 50% on wrap, placed meat over it, sprinkled remaining 50% on top of meat, mummified ...

Flipped the package 3 times a day instead of 2. After 6.5 days, rinsed and soaked with frequent water changes for only 4 hours due to lack of time. Patted dry and coated top only (fat side down) with fresh crushed pepper and coriander mix, rested overnight then smoked in XL.

Didn't have enough time to pull at 170 for rest and steam, so I smoked all the way ... about 6 hours at 250 + 6 hours at 275, no foil, till IT 200. FTC'd about 2 hours before serving. Not as good as Swartze's but very decent if I may say so

Served with mustard on rye, with pickle on the side.

Lessons for future:
1) cure period - although it was cut short, it appears 6.5 days instead of 10 was .
2) saltiness - we are not big salt fan, although I reduced manufacturer recommended ReadyCure (1% nitrate premixed with salt) dosage by 20% it was still a tad too salty for us when eaten 'naked' without bread. should allow more time to soak at least 8-9 hours as in the past, instead of the compressed 4 hour. Heck, I may even try the salt box method although I have trouble wrapping my head around the idea of same approach, regardless of meat thickness and dry/wetness of the meat that could change the amount of cure stuck. May be I'm over thunkng this

Uuni Pizza

I'm an Uuninised egghead! While MSM was resting, everyone chipped in and cranked out eight pizzas, using 3-day cold fermented dough very similar to Molly's posted by @Carolina Q . Took 3-4 minutes per pie instead of under 3, plan to reduce hydration from 65% to 55-60% and omit oil next time.